At half the price of the Nautic-Ski, the Dauphine model from Lip makes for an excellent 1970’s divers watch.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The movement used in this watch was only in production for three years, so we know this watch was made between 1969 and 1971. We picked the middle year.
CONDITION
Lip have a history going back to 1867, and were France’s largest watchmaker for a while, employing over 1,500 people. They were the first to use a glowing material on their hands (working with Pierre and Marie Curie to use radium to create phosphorescent hands for the first time). Post war, they are best known for the Nautic-Ski and Mach 2000 models and the Dauphine model we have here sits chronologically between these two. Quite aptly, considering the history, it is the lume on the dial and hands that is most attractive – it has faded to a lovely cream colour, all evenly matched. Overall the watch is in very good condition, with the case being all stainless steel and the bezel insert not being damaged. The bezel doesn’t click, but we don’t know if that was always the case. The movement is a PUW 1461, a 25 jewel automatic from West Germany with semi quick set date. The date does change an hour early, at 11pm rather than midnight, but we don’t want to remove the hands to adjust that in case the lume material is disturbed. The rubber strap is new. The photos show the crown without it being screwed down, but the video shows it in the correct position.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 42.3 mm
Width without crown 38.8 mm
Between lugs 20 mm
Lug to lug length 44.9 mm
Case Thickness 14.1 mm
All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
